Succulents and More™

In spite of the unseasonable heat, fall is here. For many of us, that means planting season. In the Sacramento area, one of the best places to indulge your plant buying habit is the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery . Every year, it hosts a series of plant sales , usually three in the spring and three in the fall. This year, the fall sales are on October 5 (members only), October 26, and November 16 (clearance sale). As a volunteer, I’m at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery every week, and I can tell you that the sales floor is overflowing with cool plants. According to the online inventory for the October 5 sale, there are more than 23,000 plants from almost 800 different taxa, ranging from to Abutilon to Zephyranthes . California natives? Check. Water-wise plants? Check. Succulents? Check. Grasses, vines, bulbs? Check, check, and check. No matter which plants or gardening style you’re into, there’s plenty to choose from. In fact, the selection is larger than at most commerci

Summer has been hanging on tight, like a stubborn rash that won’t go away. Will it ever end? , that’s the Shakespearean question. But even the persistent daytime heat can’t negate the fact that fall is close. You can tell by the light. The sun is lower in the sky, and the early evening glow is pure magic, almost making me forget the havoc this endless – and relentless – summer has wrought. Here are some photos I took over the last few days to show you what I mean. Small Dioon caputoi next to the bamboo in the front yard Agave ‘Blue Glow’ with Eriogonum nudum ‘Ella’s Yellow’ Hechtia argentea ... ...and Dioon argenteum looking like liquid silver View of the larger succulent mound inside the front yard fence Yucca linearifolia bottom left Yucca queretaroensis × filifera towering over the smaller succulent mound Leucadendron ‘Jester’ and Yucca queretaroensis × filifera Encephalartos friderici-guilielmi , with Aloe lukeana top left and Ferocactus herrerae on the right Corten cactus p

As you know, I’m a big agave fan. Out of the 270+ agave species, Agave utahensis , especially varieties nevadensis and eborispina , are among my favorites – and highly sought after by collectors. In 2022, I had the opportunity to see both in habitat in the mountains outside of Las Vegas ( nevadensis post here ; eborispina post here ), but I’m not an expert. Guest contributor Dan Zarrella is . His enthusiasm for this species is bar none. Dan lives in the Las Vegas area and has spent years exploring the Mojave Desert. His YouTube channel contains 75+ videos on Agave utahensis . In addition, h e shares his field observations and his experience growing Agave utahensis on his website Mojave.lv . He also sells choice seed-grown Agave utahensis through Mojave.lv ( nevadensis for now, eborispina coming soon) to support his Project Eborispina, a multi-year effort to survey and document eborispina populations in southern Nevada. This is a long post, but it’s an important one because it hi